Tow-truck driver thrown off highway in Baltimore

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore police say a tow-truck operator was thrown over a wall and fell about 25 feet into a river after an SUV struck a disabled vehicle he was attending on an elevated expressway.

Detective Jeremy Silbert says officers rushed to the water and pulled the man onto a grassy marsh area in the middle of the river before he was rescued by police and firefighters.

Silbert says a police officer also was hurt when the collision pushed one of the vehicles into him, hurting his leg. Both the officer and tow truck operator were taken to a hospital. Their injuries were not considered life threatening.

A similar incident happened near the same spot in 2011, when an officer was hit and thrown over a wall.